TIIK WKKKI,Y HILO TRinUNK, HIM), HAWAII, TUKSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1905.
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HOW THEY FOUGHT THE
COMMISSION TRUST.
The Fruit Growers of Southern California Brought the
Commission Men to Terms Co-operative Plan of
Sales and Expenses Details of Scheme and Form
of Contract Results.
For the benefit of the banaiin and ' fornia Fruit exchange is a mere
fruit growers of Hawaii, we print
bilow an account of the methods
pursued by the Southern California
growers in their fight against Hie
Commission Trust, which absorbed
all the profits of shippers of fruit
from Southern California, just as
the same individuals are now doing
to the banana growers of the Ha
waiian Islands.
Previous to 1892, the citrus fruits
of Southern California were chiefly
marketed through commission
agents, and it was largely a con
signment business, that is to say,
the fruit was forwarded usually
through local speculators to eastern
houses to be sold for growers' ac
count. If there was anything left
after the commission and charges
had been paid and the middle man
had been satisfied, the growers toqk
the remnant.
In August, 1893, at a meeting
held in Los Angeles, composed of
growers from various sections, the
Southern California Fruit Kxchange
was formed. This was essentially
a compact, more in the nature of an
honorable agreement to co-operate,
than it was a specific business or-
creature of the combined local ex
changes. The local exchanges
are usually stock companies and
make contracts with individual
growers for the handling of their
fruit for a term of years on a purely
co-operative basis. These local ex
changes determine all the questions
of a local character, such for in
stance, as methods of packing,
brands under which they pack,
grading, purchasing of materials
for packing, time of shipments,
method of pro-rating the expenses
and returns realized among the
various members of the exchange,
etc.
By agreement between these local
exchanges and the Southern Cali
fornia Fruit Exchange the latter
becomes the marketing agent of all
these local exchanges. When the
fruit is packed and put on board
the cars, control over it by the local
exchange ceases, and the Southern
California Fruit Exchange takes
charge of and markets it.
The local exchanges control
varying percentages of the whole
crop in the respective communities,
as for instance, the Riverside Fruit
Fruit Growers' Contract.
The following is a specimen contract between the various
fruit growers of San Bernardino County, California, and the Up
land Citrus Association of which they thereby become members.
Each of the subordinate exchanges have a similar form of con
tract, and in turn each association becomes a member of the
Southern California Fruit Exchange.
CONTRACT.
We the undersigned growers of citrus fruit in the western
part of San Bernardino county, California, being desirous of hav
ing our fruit handled iu a manner substantially as set forth in the
By Laws, do, for such purpose, hereby severally constitute and
appoint the Upland Citrus Association of North Ontario, Califor
nia, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Cali
fornia, our sole agent, and convey to said Corporation the entire
crop of oranges and grape fruit that may be grown upon our re
spective orchards during the entire period of incorporation. We
and each of us do further agree that all expenses incurred by said
Corporation in handling and marketing said fruit shall be paid
out of the proceeds of the sale of said fruit, pro rata according to
the amount of fruit furnished by each of us respectively, and we,
each of us, agree to accept for the crop our pro rata share of the
net proceeds of the sale of fruit furnished by us, after deductiug
the cost of packing, selling and other necessary expenses. Noth
ing herein contained shall be construed to interfere with bona fide
sales of orchard property. Any person who shall otherwise dis
pose of the merchantable oranges or grape fruit grown on the
property hereby contracted, during the term of this contract,
shall forfeit and pay the Association the sum of one cent per
pound for all fruit so disposed of as liquidated damages, and the
same may be deducted from any amount then due or which may
thereafter become due on such person's account.
Signed this day of 190...
(Signed)
ganization. It was made up of
various local fruit associations and
exchanges from different sections.
This arrangement amounted to
little more than to keep each other
advised of the movement of fruit,
and a general agreement from time
to time, upon f. 0. b. prices usually
about once iu two weeks prices
were agreed upon to be maintained
until chauged by agreement.
This publishing of prices resulted,
however, in giving notice to the
outside speculators as to what the
combine was doing, and enabled
the speculators to market their own
fruit by a slight cut under the Ex
change price. All this fixing of
prices was due to the demand of the
growers for selling on delivery f. o.
b., and it resulted as so-called f. o.
b. selling usually docs, in a vast
number of rejections, and conse
quent demand for rebates on the
part of the purchasers.
The arrangement was very un
satisfactory, and in 1895, the man
ner of doing the business was
changed. The local associations
were incorporated and united to
form local fruit exchanges. These
in turn incorporated what is known ici fruit delivered
as the Southern California Fruit ! house.
Exchange as a marketing agency.
This joint exchange is incorpor
ated with a nominal stock held by
representatives of the local ex
change, so that the Southern Cali-
Exchange controls approximately
one-third of the crop iu that dis
trict, and has this year an output
of about 1500 carloads. The Riv
erside Fruit Exchange is in turn
made up of five subdivisions called
associations, known as the Riverside
Heights Association, La Mesa
Association, Pachappa Association,
the Co-operative Association, and
the Riverside Navel Orange Co.
The first two have four to five hun
dred cars each. The others are
smaller.
Each association has its own
brand under which it packs, but
all the boxes have on them the
brand of the Riverside Fruit Ex
change, and also of the Southern
California Fruit Exchange. These
local associations just named, pro
rate matters of expenses and returns
for the fruit sold among their mem
bers upon such basis as they may
agree upon. Usually all fruit de
livered at any of these association
packing houses by any member
loses its identity the moment it is
weighed into the house and he gets
such a proportion of the returns as
his fruit bears to the whole amount
to the packing
boxes and packing materials for all
these various local organizations.
These local organizations prorates
offers only among its members a
premium for growing good fruit
and for good packing.
Ten years ago, in order to over
come the disastrous effects of con
signing fruit, the system which had
previously prevailed, then establish
ed the method of selling fruit de
livered through their own agents.
Since that time, no fruit is sold f.
o. b. California. All fruit is con
signed to the Southern California
Fruit Exchange to the various mar
kets, and is offered to the trade by
salaried agents, except, of course,
in the great auction markets, such
as Philadelphia, New York, and
Boston, where it is taken by receiv
ing agents and sold at auction.
The effect of this has been to en
tirely do away with the system of
commission sales and the innumera
ble rejections of fruit by the pur
chasers, and demands for rebates,
reclamations, etc. Fruit is sold to
regular trade iu the different cities,
affording them an opportunity to
examine the goods before purchas
ing. This gives the growers an
opportunity to take advantage of
raising markets. Instead of quot
ing f. o. 1). California and allowing
the fruit to go forward, giving the
buyers from 12 to 16 days during
the transit of the shipment in which
to speculate upon the market, the
growers take advantage of what
ever rise there may be and get the
price prevailing at the time of de
livery. If, on the other hand the
market should decline the growers
arc out nothing because of the so-
called f. o. b. sales, the goods
would be rejected anyway on a fall
ing market, and they could then
have them on their hands to make
the best disposition they could.
Under the present system, they
have no rejected goods discredited
in the market.
Under this system, the season of
1896-7, the business amounted to
1,750 carloads, gross sales $1,500,-
000. In 1897-8, 4,000 carloads,
gross sales $3,000,000. In 1897-9,
(light crops) 3,000 carloads, gross
sales $2,800,000. In 1899-1900,
6,039 carloads, gross sales. $5,809,
000. For the present season, ex
change shipments to date amount
to over 3,600 carloads, and will
probably reach 10,000, For the
season, or about 45 per cent of the
crop.
On this business of four years,
amounting to $13,000,000 of gross
sales, the total losses from bad ac
counts, defalcations, failures, etc.,
among the trade have amounted to
less than of 1 per -cent.
Markets are in evety section of
the United States and Canada, with
occasional shipments to Liverpool
and London. The average cost of
operating, including all salaries,
telegrams, office and incidental ex
penses of every character from the
time the fruit is packed, and on
board the cars, is an average of a
bout 3 per cent, less than half the
percentage that has always been
charged by middlemen and specula
tors iu this business
The business for this season will
reach about 10,000 carloads and is
steadily growing. It is not boast
ing to say that the Southern Cali
fornia Fruit Exchange make the
markets for the citrus fruits of Cali
fornia, und as they get control of
the product, they are placing the
markets on a more steady basis. It
is not a part of the system to fix
prices. In this particular they are
governed by the conditions as they
find them iu the markets. They
get what the trade can afford to pay
and such prices as will get the fruit
into consumption.
Order or Unrnlinti.
The Military Order of the Cara
bou was organized in Manila, iu
1900, for the purpose of fostering a
high standard of military and social
duty, and to perpetuate the memory
of military services in the Philip
pines during the early days of Am
erican occupation.
The membership of the order is
composed of commissioned officers
of the regular and volunteer ser
vices, who honorably served iu the
Philippine Islands between May 1,
1898, and July 4, 1902, the period
of active military operotions, civil
government being established on
the latter date.
The name of the order was taken
from the water buffalo, or carabou,
the slow-going beast of burden of
the Philippines, which was the
main reliance of the American army
iu transporting supplies through
out the Islands.
Corrals, as branches of the order
arc called, have been established in
many of the large cities of the
country, and have as members most
all of the highest ranking army and
navy officers that saw active service
iu the Philippines.
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UNION BARBER SHOP
Agents for tlie
S SANITARY g
TEAM LAUNDRY
HONOLULU
Leave your packages nt the Union Bar
ber Sliop.
Delivered by every Wednesday's Klimu
No extra charge. Wc pay the freight.
PAY FOR THE BEST
IT'S CHEAPEST
AND THAT'S TIIK CLASS 01' WORK
KXKCUTKD BY
CAMERON
THE PLUMBER
I'KONT ST., Op. SPRKCKEL'S BLOCK
PLANTERS' LINE
OF
' SAILING VESSELS
Direct Lino between SAN FRANCISCO
AND IIILO.
Hnrk St. Cntlinrlno, Cnpt. Saunders
Unrk Amy Turner, Capt. Warland
Sell. W. II. Marston, Capt. Gove
QUICK DISPATCH
For freight and passage npply to
WELCH & CO., Agents, San Francisco
C. BREWER & CO., Ltd., Agents,
Honolulu, or
H. Hackfeld & Co., Ltd.
AUEMS, HILO.
NoTicit Neither the Masters nor
Agent of" vessels of the "Matson Line"
will be responsible for any debts con
tracted by the crew. R. t. GUARD,
Agent.
tlilo.Api 11 16,1901 14-
I'ronilni'iit West Imlla .Merchant
Cures Ills DaitKlitcr of a Threat
en oil Attack of Pneumonia.
"Some time ago my daughter
caught a severe cold. She com
plained of pains iu her chest and
had a bad cough. I gave her
Chamberlain's Cough Remedy
according to directions and in two
days she was well and able to go to
school. I have used this remedy
in my family for the past seven
years and have never known it to
fail," says James Prendergast, mer
chant, Annato Bay, Jamaica, West
India Islands. For sale by Hilo
Drug Co.
THE HILO TRIBUNE'S MAIL CHART
AXJOTJSOD, 1905.
MAILS AUUIVK IN HONOLULU AND DISPART AS I'OLLOWS:
ALL KINDS 01'
RUBBER GOODS
GOODYEAR RUBBER CO.
R. H. PEASE, President.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., U. S, A.
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July 20
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Mongolia
16
Ventura
22
29x
W.
2
Coptic
0
Alamerta
fSonoma
16
Isibcria"
23
lAorangi
30
Alameda
T.
3
10
17
31
F.
Alameda
4
Ncbrask'n
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18
China
Alameda
26
Sopt. I
Doric
S.
5
12
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Nebras'
3
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Mongolia
Sopt. Zi
Vessels whose 11 times nppcnr OVER the date ARRIVE from the Coast.
Vessels whose names appear BELOW the date DEPART for the Coast.
Destination of Vessels () To San Francisco; (f) To Colonies; (1) To
Victoria; It. C; (?) To Yokohama.
S. S. Kinau departs from Hilo for Honolulu every Friday at 10:00 a. m.
S. S. Mauna Loa'smail closes iu Hilo on Saturdays ami Tuesdays marked
(x) at 2:15 p. 111., arriving iu Honolulu at daylight three days later.
v
Co-operation prevails throughout,
all the opciatious being carried on
upon a level cost basis, no profits
occurring anywhere. The South
ern California lfruit Exchange buys
liroko tho (Jluss.
A Milwaukee merchant, says the
Evening Wisconsin, in company
with a friend, stopped nt a country
inn one hot summer evening. Be
ing fatigued from the day's journey,
they at once retired. But they
could not sleep and finally the
friend of the merchant suggested
that the window be opened, as he
could not sleep unless there was
better ventilation. The merchant
groped around in the dark and at
last found a window, which seemed
riveted to the frame. His friend
While the Agents of many
Life Insurance Companies arc
petitioning their Officers for the
ANNUAL DIVIDEND policy,
it is a source of great satisfaction
to the Policyholders of the
Pacific Mutual to know that
their Company has been issuing
almost nothing else for years.
No petitioning necessary for
liberality with the good old
Pacific Mutual.
The Directors of the Company
arc by the California law made
jointly nml severally liable for
all monies EMHEZ.LED or
MISAPPROPRIATED by the
officers' during the term of office
of such Director, Quite a pro
vision from the SECURITY
STANDPOINT, considering
what has recently occurred.
The best policies arc issued by
the best Company on Earth for
policyholders.
THE PACIFIC MUTUAL LIFE
INS. CO. OF CALA.
CLINTON J. HUTCHINS,
General Agent,
920 Fort Stroot.
H. E. PICKER,
Travoling Representative.
$ss
We deal iu only the best.
We deal in the finest lenses.
Wc deal iu the best frames.
We deal fairly by all.
We deal with one the same
with another.
We deal with you nt the first so
that you will deal with us to the
as
tnhl him tn smash it. as he would
pay the damages. Having done so ms''
they at once passed off into dream- Factory on the premises.
land and slept finely in the breeze,
which appeared to be wafted
through the opening. When they
woke up in the morning they found
that they had smashed the door of
n bookcase iustead of the window.
A.
N. SANFORD
OPTICIAN
UOSTON HUILDING, - HONOLULU
Over May &. Co,
TWO SPLENDID
CLUB.
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lishers, the TRIBUNE is able to present to
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monthly maga.ines in combination with the
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and most up-to-date weekly newspaper pub
lished in Hawaii, having a special wireless
news service, thereby giving to TRIBUNE
readers, up to the hour of publication on
Tuesday morning of each week, the latest
foreigu and cable news, besides general local
news.
The Combination Offers are open to new
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ordered sent to one or several addresses, but
orders under this combination offer must be
accompanied by draft or postoffice money order.
Publisher's CLUB A
Price
$2.oo-Saturday Evening Post,
i.oo-Ladies' Home Journal,
2.50-Hilo Tribune (Weekly)
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Price
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Scud in your orders right away.
IIILO TRIBUNE PUBLISHING CO., Ltd.
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